[drum & synth fanfare] (jane joyce) polar bears are specially conditioned for life in the harsh arctic environment. polar bears rely on vast expanses of arctic sea ice to hunt for seals in the fall to build up enough fat reserves to carry them through the meltdown in the spring. but the future of the polar bear is literally "on thin ice." the arctic has warmed by 2 to 4 degrees fahrenheit since the 1960's, about twice the rate of the rest of the world. the frozen habitat the bears depend on for survival has shrunk dramatically. arctic ice melts earlier and forms later, shortening the bears' hunting season. polar bears are forced to come ashore earlier, undernourished, or weakened from longer swims in the more open sea. bears have been spotted swimming as far as 60 miles from shore. some have suffered exhaustion and drowned in search of food or an ice floe. in 2004, polar bears were engaged in cannibalism in areas where there was little ice on which to hunt. by century's end, the summer arctic ice is predicted to disappear; so, too, would the polar bear. the warmer world we humans are c